Renewable energy has in recent years received significant attention, primarily due to the environmental damage which has been inflicted on the planet as a result of our need for energy and resultant use of fossil fuels. The race is therefore on to develop new and improved forms of renewable energy, in particular forms of renewable energy which can satisfy this ever increasing demand for energy, as many forms of renewable energy are not scalable in order to produce energy at commercial levels.
One area which shows significant potential is that of tidal energy, which has the ability to provide consistent and high levels of energy without negative impacts on the environment and which is essentially available around the entire planet. However there are numerous difficulties which are encountered when seeking to harness tidal energy. The present application is concerned with hydroelectric turbines mounted on the seabed for extracting energy from tidal flows. Along with the difficulties of locating one or more of such turbines in suitable locations on the seabed, it is then necessary to electrically connect the turbines to shore, in order to allow the extraction of electrical energy therefrom. In addition, in order to generate commercial levels of energy, it will generally be necessary to connect together an array of these turbines in order to produce sufficient levels of energy. This operation requires the use of significant lengths of electrical cabling, which is difficult to work with, in particular at sites of high tidal flow at which the turbines are to be located.
Due to both the relatively large electric currents generated by hydroelectric turbines, and the extremely harsh conditions under which the turbines and associated electrical cables are exposed, the electrical cable extending onshore from the turbine array and between each turbine in the array must be relatively large and robust. As a result of the diameter of the cable, which may be in the region of 300-500 mm, and given the length of cable involved, the weight of the cable is significant. The handling of the cable is therefore both a difficult and time-consuming operation, made even more difficult by the tidal conditions present at the sites where hydroelectric turbines are deployed. It is therefore of utmost importance to prevent any damage to the cable during the lifetime of the turbine array, as the task of replacing the cabling is both time consuming, dangerous, and costly.
It is therefore an object of the present invention to overcome the above mentioned problems and to avoid or minimize damage to the cable during the lifetime of same.